Your home acts like a bubble. It’s your own climate-controlled ecosystem. As unwanted heat or dust enters your home, your HVAC system adjusts to return your environment to your ideal settings. The indoor air quality (IAQ) is a large part of your indoor environment, and it helps make your home more comfortable.
You may not have noticed or considered your IAQ before, but it could be affecting the way you live more than you think. It’s time to determine what indoor air quality is and figure out how we can improve it.
What is Indoor Air Quality?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air quality is “the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants.” Your air has dust, pollutants, and allergens, all things that can be tempered by your HVAC system.
Indoor air quality can be affected by the following sources of pollutants:
- Tobacco smoke
- Asbestos
- Pollen
- Household cleaning products
- Hygiene and hair care products
- Outdoor air pollution
- Excess moisture
- Fuel-burning appliances
If your HVAC system isn’t up to date or the outdoor air is poor, you may be dealing with worse IAQ than necessary.
Indoor Air Quality Health Concerns
Some people can tell the difference between poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and good indoor air quality more so than others. People with asthma, for instance, or elderly individuals are more susceptible to poor IAQ effects. Even healthy household members can experience adverse health effects if exposed to air pollutants for an extended period of time.
It’s more difficult to control the outdoor air quality, but thankfully, there are ways homeowners can improve their indoor air quality.
IAQ & Your HVAC System
Ventilation is probably your biggest ally when it comes to improving your IAQ. Air pollutants can enter your home through tiny cracks around your windows and doors. The air exchange occurs as a result of a temperature differential between your home and the outdoors. Depending on the concentration of pollutants and the weather outdoors, opening windows and doors can introduce cleaner air to your home. Regardless, without proper ventilation, contaminants can build to unhealthy levels in your spaces.
As our techs like to say, with a great HVAC system comes great ventilation. When your fan is turned on, whether you’re heating or cooling your home, the contaminated air is being pulled into your HVAC system. Your filters collect the airborne particles, and the fresh air is distributed throughout your home.
You can do your home and yourself some favors by taking care of your HVAC system.
Willard AC can help by performing an inspection and tune-up on your system. We recommend scheduling maintenance twice a year for great IAQ and don’t forget to change your filters. Every bit counts when it comes to keeping your home fresh.
